Caption: Scott Carpenter, American astronaut, talks to President John F. Kennedy via radio-telephone from aboard U.S.S. Intrepid, 1962. Carpenter was recovered from the Atlantic by helicopter and taken to the U.S.S. Intrepid following the successful Mercury-Atlas 7 mission. Carpenter (1925-2013) was a naval officer, test pilot, aeronautical engineer and astronaut. He piloted the Mercury-Atlas 7 (MA-7) mission launched on 24th May 1962. This was the second American mission to put a human in Earth orbit. It was a success, with Carpenter completing three Earth orbits in five hours in the Mercury capsule Aurora 7. However, a targeting mishap during re-entry took the spacecraft about 400 kilometres off course, delaying recovery of Carpenter and the craft.